Deadly swine flu virus in Mexico

[farrahla]

Yes, they just did this great segment on the news. It is so much more likely you would die falling out of bed hit your head and die then it is to get this flu...Also we don't get scared when we hop into our car everyday...Have a great wedding.

[Dee83]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaboBride2010 OMG Shay I am so sorry this is happening West Jet has now cancelled all flights to Mexico from May 4 - June 20!!! WestJet suspends flights to Mexico, Calgary travellers undeterred I really hope American companies dont follow suit as I am pretty sure that now every Canadian company has stopped flights...

Im sooo glad we booked with Mexicana airlines. Its ridiculous that all Canadian airlines are suspending flights. My heart breaks for all the brides with cancelled weddings

[kimrae99]

My heart breaks for all of you as well. I wish the best of you all whose plans have been affected.

 

Great pic, drtracy. I'm definitely saving that one!

[JaimeLynne]

LOL @ that pic! hahaha, thanks

[cancunbride]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hartyt509 Yep the Foreign Office has banned travel to Mexico unless its urgent! My holiday isn't through Thomsons but my flight is and at the min i'm waiting to hear if it's cancelled or not. I know Monarch airlines have cancelled all flights up until the 8th and Thomas Cook up until the 5th. I can't get any sense out of my TA about it and that is giving me NO time to re-arrange anything for 9 people. I can't change the date as FI has special persmission from the army to be off at this time and straight after we get back he is going to Afghanistan!! I swear i'm going to the registry office and having a bag of chips after!! I'm keeping an eye on it but my insurance company told me at the min they won't cover us if we fly and its in May or June! Great I leave on the 11th oh and they won't refund the deposit for the wedding!!

Dont feel bad, Im flying out on the 11th also... crossing my fingers Im allowed to fly out...

[wahmsuzanne]

I am so sorry for all of the brides who are getting canceled and having to find their plan "b" ... *sigh*

 

We are scheduled for June 30th at Dreams Tulum and we might get lucky and be able to go by then.

 

They just announced about 30 minutes ago that our entire school district is closed until May 11th (we are in Comal County about 30 minutes north of San Antonio).

 

Now I just have to worry that my fiance's ex-wife won't let us take the kids to Mexico ... but I will remain positive and stay rested and hydrated and eat well ...

 

Ladies please drink lots of water and keep your immune system as strong as possible ... just in case?! *huGs* to all!!!!!!!

[Summer&Nicholas]

My heart goes out to all of you. I honestly can't even fathom how those of you with canceled, and not sure about weddings are feeling right now!!! You are all in my thoughts and prayers that everything will work out for you. I'm a firm believer in everything happening for a reason...I know there's no way of imagining why something like this would happen to you, but I hope you're all keeping your chins up regardless! much love to you all!!!

[JaimeLynne]

Hey, can y'all give me some feedback on this email? Trying to come up with something to reassure our guests...

 

Quote:

Dear friends & family,   Hello! First off, we are very excited about our upcoming wedding! However, we do want to address the "elephant in the room" - the "Swine Flu" which has unfortunately hit Mexico City. We want you all to know that we are on alert and are watching the situation closely. As you know, the U.S. media has a tendency to sensationalize these things. We have been in close contact with 1 person living in Mexico City (with a background in Biology), 1 person who lives in Puerto Vallarta as well as one friend who is down there right now celebrating her honeymoon (she just had a FABULOUS wedding at Las Caletas, by the way! .   As of right now there is NOT a travel ban to Mexico. A fellow "Destination Wedding bride" personally contacted the CDC today and this is what she had to say:   "Greetings All!   I wanted to let all of you know that I just got off the phone with the CDC. I wanted them to clarify "non-essential travel" as it pertains to our situation. As of now they would NOT recommending that we cancel wedding plans as we have invested a lot of time and money in planning (therefore it is essential to us). I do understand that many of you have families that are your number one priority and that our wedding is not considered as essential to you as it is to us. Please know that we are monitoring this very closely. I will call the CDC back in a few days and will give you another update. A lot can change in 7 days.   The CDC did make several recommendations for those that still plan on traveling:   1. Call your doctor and tell them you are traveling to Mexico. Request a prescription for Tamiflu for Relenza to take with you. You will have it on hand should you start to develop any symptoms which will drastically reduce your infection. If necessary ask for several disposable masks to take with you (these will be great for pictures!).   2. Take all regular precautionary flu measures (i.e. wash your hands often or use antibacterial lotion (with 60% alcohol or more), sneeze into your sleeve, not your hand and don't shake hands with a lot of people, etc).   3. Monitor your health for seven days after your return."   Please understand that this is just another strain of the flu. Every year 300,000-500,000 people world wide die annually from the "regular flu". Mexico city is not very clean (for the most part) and is the 2nd largest city in the world with 22 MILLION people! It is of course sad that some fatalities have occurred, however 150 out of 22,000,000 is not to be unexpected from a flu outbreak like this (in other words, it is not out of the norm).   Here is a good article from CNN: Regular flu has killed thousands since January - CNN.com   Every single person outside of Mexico has survived this flu and in fact have only reported MILD strains. They are not sure why it hit Mexico City so hard, but that is currently under investigation. Puerto Vallarta is located over 800 KM away from Mexico City. Also, there have been NO reports of swine flu in the state of Jalisco (where Puerto Vallarta is located), nor the neighboring states of Nayarit or Colima. To put things into perspective a bit - we have more confirmed cases here in Texas than they do in the state of Jalisco (where we'll be traveling). It is reported that even in Mexico City, the flu is beginning to level out. Our contact in Mexico City states that they will re-open schools and other public places on May 6th.   ** So, all in all - as long as there is not a travel ban imposed on Mexico, we plan on going! **   For further specific updates on Puerto Vallarta, you may visit this website: Puerto Vallarta/Jalisco Swine Flu Updates   And as always, CNN is a great source for news. Please try and stay away from channels like FOX, etc. - they really feed off of sensationalizing these kinds of things.   A lot can and is expected to happen in the next 7 days. We of course have all of you in our thoughts and in the end it is your decision. We will continue to keep ourselves educated and updated on the situation, and hope you will do the same.   ***There are 2 anti-viral medications which have proven very effective in treating this strain of the flu: those are 1) Tamiflu and 2) Relenza*** These MAY BE TAKEN AS EFFECTIVE PREVENTATIVE MEASURES if you are concerned! Just go to your doctor and tell them you are visiting Mexico and request a prescription. And hey - we don't mind if you want to wear masks - would make for some interesting photo ops!   We hope to have alleviated some of your fears, and let you know that we are thinking about everyone. We do not feel at this time that there is need for worry. Remember: "Fear" can be the worst 4 letter word out there!   Please join us in channeling positive energy! Thanks, and we look forward to seeing you in Mexico!!!   Love, Jaime & Martin

[JaimeLynne]

Hey, can y'all give me some feedback on this email? Trying to come up with something to reassure our guests...

 

 

Quote:

Dear friends & family,   Hello! First off, we are very excited about our upcoming wedding! However, we do want to address the "elephant in the room" - the "Swine Flu" which has unfortunately hit Mexico City. We want you all to know that we are on alert and are watching the situation closely. As you know, the U.S. media has a tendency to sensationalize these things. We have been in close contact with 1 person living in Mexico City (with a background in Biology), 1 person who lives in Puerto Vallarta as well as one friend who is down there right now celebrating her honeymoon (she just had a FABULOUS wedding at Las Caletas, by the way! .   As of right now there is NOT a travel ban to Mexico. A fellow "Destination Wedding bride" personally contacted the CDC today and this is what she had to say:   "Greetings All!   I wanted to let all of you know that I just got off the phone with the CDC. I wanted them to clarify "non-essential travel" as it pertains to our situation. As of now they would NOT recommending that we cancel wedding plans as we have invested a lot of time and money in planning (therefore it is essential to us). I do understand that many of you have families that are your number one priority and that our wedding is not considered as essential to you as it is to us. Please know that we are monitoring this very closely. I will call the CDC back in a few days and will give you another update. A lot can change in 7 days.   The CDC did make several recommendations for those that still plan on traveling:   1. Call your doctor and tell them you are traveling to Mexico. Request a prescription for Tamiflu for Relenza to take with you. You will have it on hand should you start to develop any symptoms which will drastically reduce your infection. If necessary ask for several disposable masks to take with you (these will be great for pictures!).   2. Take all regular precautionary flu measures (i.e. wash your hands often or use antibacterial lotion (with 60% alcohol or more), sneeze into your sleeve, not your hand and don't shake hands with a lot of people, etc).   3. Monitor your health for seven days after your return."   Please understand that this is just another strain of the flu. Every year 300,000-500,000 people world wide die annually from the "regular flu". Mexico city is not very clean (for the most part) and is the 2nd largest city in the world with 22 MILLION people! It is of course sad that some fatalities have occurred, however 150 out of 22,000,000 is not to be unexpected from a flu outbreak like this (in other words, it is not out of the norm).   Here is a good article from CNN: Regular flu has killed thousands since January - CNN.com   Every single person outside of Mexico has survived this flu and in fact have only reported MILD strains. They are not sure why it hit Mexico City so hard, but that is currently under investigation. Puerto Vallarta is located over 800 KM away from Mexico City. Also, there have been NO reports of swine flu in the state of Jalisco (where Puerto Vallarta is located), nor the neighboring states of Nayarit or Colima. To put things into perspective a bit - we have more confirmed cases here in Texas than they do in the state of Jalisco (where we'll be traveling). It is reported that even in Mexico City, the flu is beginning to level out. Our contact in Mexico City states that they will re-open schools and other public places on May 6th.   ** So, all in all - as long as there is not a travel ban imposed on Mexico, we plan on going! **   For further specific updates on Puerto Vallarta, you may visit this website: Puerto Vallarta/Jalisco Swine Flu Updates   And as always, CNN is a great source for news. Please try and stay away from channels like FOX, etc. - they really feed off of sensationalizing these kinds of things.   A lot can and is expected to happen in the next 7 days. We of course have all of you in our thoughts and in the end it is your decision. We will continue to keep ourselves educated and updated on the situation, and hope you will do the same.   ***There are 2 anti-viral medications which have proven very effective in treating this strain of the flu: those are 1) Tamiflu and 2) Relenza*** These MAY BE TAKEN AS EFFECTIVE PREVENTATIVE MEASURES if you are concerned! Just go to your doctor and tell them you are visiting Mexico and request a prescription. And hey - we don't mind if you want to wear masks - would make for some interesting photo ops!   We hope to have alleviated some of your fears, and let you know that we are thinking about everyone. We do not feel at this time that there is need for worry. Remember: "Fear" can be the worst 4 letter word out there!   Please join us in channeling positive energy! Thanks, and we look forward to seeing you in Mexico!!!   Love, Jaime & Martin

[Dana10]

My heart goes out to you ladies facing having your wedding cancelled because of this... I hope that everything works out for you, all the best!